Product Review of Hartz Play City Extreme Home

I found Hartz Play City Extreme Home on sale at my local Kmart and purchased it for a mere $20.00. The Play City Extreme Home appeared to have everything I needed, a water bottle, wheel, and shelter. I was disappointed that there were no tunnels included considering it was "extreme", but I still purchased it anyway.

After assembling it, filling the hamster water bottle, adding the liter box, and adding my own hamster tunnels that didn't fit, but we made them fit. I had many problems getting the wheel on the cage. The way you have to turn the dials was a real pain, added to it only after the hamster had been in the wheel did I discover you have to turn the wheel a certain way to make sure the hamster could get into it, and run around it properly.

She was in heaven! It was only later in the evening did I discover what would be problems with the Play City Extreme Home cage's design.

The problems I've had with the Play City Extreme Home cage are as follows: The hamster began to fill the wheel with her food, which rolled around, and eventually clogged the wheel to the point it wasn't even a wheel. Even though some was falling out, most was stuck. I had to take apart the wheel to get the food out. While attempting to do this, I had to open the cage door to put her food back into the cage where it should be, in her bowl! I opened the door, and tilted it upward at which point the one foot that holds the door in place broke, and went flying across the room! The hooks are designed to be hinges, but they are very poor quality. It's very hard to open the door, and make it tilt properly. In fact, I can't imagine a child dealing with this aspect of the cage on a daily basis. It would have broken right away! Seeing as you just have to take the door completely off, and not tilt it upwards like it appears to look. Putting the door back on is a real pain too because you have no real idea which slot the hinges are meant to go. Another problem is, you have to be very strong to put the cage together until you hear a several sections snap. It's annoying how much you have to press to make it pop into place for a secure fit, all the way around the cage, each, and every time you clean it. In addition, there is a little piece that you have to place in-between the front, and that seems to be the hardest thing to be centered, and snapped properly into place. Another problem is when the cage is pushed up against the wall so the back is flat; the wheel is unable to move. Hamsters need to be kept in a draft free environment, and if your cage can't be placed in a way in which it cuts off drafts, it rather defeats the purpose of a secure environment.

Only after beginning this article, and examining the box the cage came in, did I discover a 1 -800 number to call with an unconditional money back guarantee. I called, and was greeted promptly. I told the woman the problem with the cage, she offered me the bits to replace it, and told me if I was still not pleased to send in the bar code for a complete refund. She sent me a whole other cage for free!

I rate the Play City Extreme Home design a 3 out of 10, the appearance a 5 out of 10. The only way I would recommend this cage is if you purchased it at a yard sale, or the Goodwill. Full price, and sale price still isn't worth the hassles of this cage, and I do not recommend it for children 12 and under.